Here I am again

I haven't been paying as much attention as I want to, to social networking recently, which means that my blog, twitter, etc. have been neglected. Sorry about that. I have some pretty transitional things going on right now in my personal life. And that's also made me fall off the wagon with writing, reading, and going to the gym. Yikes!

I have read Ilona Andrews's novella from the Must Love Hellhounds anthology as well as started the novel Magic Bleeds. The novella was great, and the novel so far is absolutely awesome! I very much recommend her Kate Daniels series. I drop everything to read those books.

I've been trying to pull myself back to my neglected WIP the past couple of days. It's been a bit like pulling teeth. I stare at the computer screen and then some shiny idea comes along and I end up browsing the internet, so I decided to put pencil to paper, which was the way I wrote several years ago. And it's given me a little bit of a boost.  I seem to be able to focus better.  So, I'll go continue on sharpening my pencils with my newfound electric pencil sharpener and focusing on getting words down on paper.

Please welcome... author Becky Moore!

You’ll Be As Happy As You Let Yourself Be

You’ll be as happy as you let yourself be. At least that’s what my mother’s always told me … and I’m happy to report she’s right. I’m based enough in reality to know I’m no Pollyanna, but you’ll never meet a more optimistic idealist than me.

I think that’s one reason that I love the romance genre so much. Regardless of how many times our heroine’s kidnapped or how battered the heart of our hero, they’re going to find a way to be together at the end of the story. The gal always gets the guy. The guy always gets the gal.

It’s been my experience that happiness spreads. I did a little experiment over the past two weekends. Nothing scientific, mind you … I am a writer and marketing guru in the real world, not a scientist. It went something like this:

Saturday number one, I went to Nordstrom’s in the morning, and then drove across town to Wal-Mart. I shopped around both stores by myself, kept my head down and ignored everyone. When someone caught my eye, I kept my expression bland. Their reactions were pretty obvious, and pretty universal—they treated me with the same indifference. No surprise. I took about an hour to have lunch and hang out at the library, and then retraced my steps. But this time, I met the gaze of everyone I passed, smiled and nodded, and spoke to a good handful of them. The shift was remarkable, because everyone reciprocated in kind. Everyone was happy.

Saturday number two, I chose Macy’s and Target, but took my son with me. Our trips were quicker since he’s even less enthusiastic about shopping than I am, but we followed the same pattern—grumpy, introverted and nonchalant in the morning; open, direct and cheery in the afternoon. And while most people were less likely to be visibly rude to my son, the afternoon leg of the experiment was extraordinarily more pleasant than the morning.

So it served as a useful lesson for my son, proof for my mother’s lifelong beatitude, and a great topic of conversation. Happiness spreads easily. It’s free, it’s painless, and it certainly brightens the mood of everyone around you.

It’s a shame that we’re inundated by sorrowful, violent, panicky news on a daily basis. Natural disasters, suicide and unemployment are on the rise, while hope, R&D, and healthcare are on the decline. I’m lucky that, as a romance author, I have the power to create a happy ending.

You see, every story deserves a happy ending. That’s my motto … and I’m sticking with it.

Becky Moore

• Find me online: http://www.beckymoore.net/.

• Buy The Right Words at the XOXO Publishing Online Store
• Follow me on Twitter at: @beckym_romance
• Follow me on Facebook at: facebook.com/BeckyMooreRomance

Please welcome... author Lenore Butcher!

Zombies – Not just for Hallowe’en anymore!

When I was asked to contribute a guest spot to this blog, I didn’t know at first what I was going to write about. I’m not great at shameless self promotion, has to do with that self-deprecating Canadian thing I have going on. As I was procrastinating in the name of ‘doing research for the next book’ (okay, yes, I was surfing the Internet), I stumbled upon a web page proudly proclaiming that May is Zombie Awareness Month. That fits and it’s a perfect topic for me to talk about, one I know quite a bit about.

You see, my book ‘Dead Girls, Dogs and Ponies’ (currently available on xoxopublishing.com) is about zombies. One zombie in particular, named Justin. He is not your average zombie, being possessed of more acute mental faculties and is indeed the narrator of this book, hopefully the first in what will be a series of books all set in the same thematic world where zombies, vampires, werewolves, faeries and dragons and other fantastic supernatural beings exist alongside and among humans, keeping their secrets and policing themselves and each other lest the mortals become aware of the stream of abnormal culture running just beneath the surface. Justin is hired by the head of one of the city’s vampire dynasties to uncover some information for her. What he uncovers is far more devious and dangerous than he’d imagined and he soon wishes it was information he didn’t know as his knowledge endangers both Justin and his friends. The book is also about loss and the enduring nature of love as Justin spends a good portion of the book remembering and pining for his dead girlfriend Honey. Justin is shrewd and possessed of a caustic wit but also with surprisingly deep emotions that surface in unpredictable ways. I am currently hard at work on the sequel, ‘Food Chain Boogie’, which will be released hopefully in the fall of this year.

Back to Zombie Awareness Month. I hadn’t realized it until the website pointed it out, but the majority of zombie movies are actually set in May, which is quite fitting. In ancient Rome and Greece, most of the festivals in May were to honour the various gods of the dead such as Hermes who was not only the god of speed and of thieves but was also known as the ‘herdsman of the dead’. He lead the recently departed to their final rewards in the underworld. During May in Rome, festivals were also held to appease the Lemures, who were the ‘wandering spirits of the dead’ and the Lares praestites, who were the ghosts said to stand guard around Rome.

May is said to bring about rebirth and fecundity as the earth sends forth its’ blossoms in all their glory. It is a time for renewal and hope and apparently for zombies, so don a grey ribbon and join me in uttering a mighty ‘gargh!’ in celebration of ‘Dead Girls, Dogs and Ponies’ and Zombie Awareness Month!

Lenore Butcher

Please welcome... author Amelie Court!

The Thought Process

When trying to figure out what I will write next, timing is everything for me. I could be watching a television show or even a movie, and suddenly I get an idea. I never try to copy anyone else's ideas, but turn whatever comes to mind, into something that only my brain could comprehend, then try to form it so that everyone else can figure out what is going on.

Sound's complicated doesn't it? For me, it is quite easy, but putting those ideas into words is the long process for me, hence, my next book is still in the writing process.

My next book is going to be a Paranormal book, which is why I am taking the up-most caution with this one. I want it to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, so-to-speak.

I always found, back in school, writing to be a tedious and pain-staking ordeal, but after graduating, I found it very therapeutic, how funny things can turn out. After writing Poetry, Short Stories, and now working on my first full-length novel, I find myself very relaxed, but sometimes pumped-up after writing for different periods of time.

Overall, trying to figure out what to write, how to write it, and get it down on paper (or the computer) is a process that takes immeasurable time to make it just right. Never give up, is what I always tell myself; the end result will make it all worthwhile.

Amelie Court
author of "Noble" available for sale at www.XoXoPublishing.com